Author: marissama08

Freedom

We must forgive the bludgeoning words we allow to impact our souls. 

The shame we feel of things we should embody with love instead of hate.

There is equality between everyone, no matter race, sex, sexuality, religion, age…

We will one day accept honesty as a virtuous attribute and respect as attractive. 

To be genuinely happy, we must let go of past pains and mistakes.

Not dwell over whispers or not being enough.

Everyone is enough. 

There is more that life has to offer once we are ready to move on.

Stop waiting for life to resume, make it happen. 

We do know the weight until we feel the freedom.

A couple months later Hester was released from prison. Even though she was able to leave Boston, she didn’t. Hester stayed isolated from everyone, including the town fathers, respected women, beggars, children, and even strangers. She was a walking example of a fallen woman, a caution for everyone to heed her warning. Although she was an outsider, luckily Hester was able to maintain herself and life due to her skills in needlework. Her want for beauty sparked her embroidery, encouraging her work to be worn by the governor besides its shameful connotation. Although the elaborate detail of artistry challenged Puritan fashion codes, it was in high demand for burial shrouds, christening gowns, and officials’ robes. Through her work, Hester made point of all the major events of life except for marriage—it was deemed inappropriate for chaste brides to wear the product of Hester Prynne’s hands, because she was not chaste as well. Despite her success, Hester felt alone and was constantly aware of her ostracism. As shame ate away inside of her, she searched for friendship or sympathy, but was unsuccessful. She dedicated part of her time to working for charity, but even that was more ruthless to her than loneliness; the people she helped made fun of her and made clothes for the poor out of ragged clothing, which insulted her aesthetic style. I admire Hester’s mental strength because she prevails even though she goes through mental beating everyday. I hope I found out what Hester is going to do in the future and if she will leave Boston, I hope she does. 

 

Scarlet Letter: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hester is the protagonist and the one who wears the scarlet letter, hence the title. The letter, a piece of fabric that’s the letter “A,” represents that Hester is an “adulterer.” As a young woman, Hester married an elderly intellect, Chillingworth, who sent her to America to live but never went with her. During the time she waited for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Dimmesdale. She then gave birth to Pearl, Chillingworth never showed up. Hester is passionate but also strong. She withholds her pride even through years of chastisement and shame. She respects both her husband and her lover in her intelligence and thoughtfulness. Her ostracism then allows her time to make inferences or observations about her community, mostly about how the women were being treated.
In all honesty, I didn’t know anything about this book before I started reading it, but it seemed like a popular “classic” so I wanted to read it.
I so far like everything about the book, the author writes it intelligently and cleverly, I just don’t like how the society treats the scarlet lettered people. The tone in the first two chapters is somber. The author is attempting to get the readers to feel sympathy for Hester and what she will have to endure in the next few years of her life because of this one decision she made.